CPR is an emergency lifesaving procedure that is done when a person's breathing or heartbeat has stopped. A person's breathing or heartbeat may stop after an electric shock, a heart attack, or drowning. CPR combines both rescue breathing and chest compressions to resuscitate a person in such medical distress. Under newly issued American Heart Association (AHA) 2015 guidelines, in order to achieve effective chest compressions, rescuers should compress at least one third of the anteroposterior diameter of an infant's or child's chest. This corresponds to approximately 1.5 inches (about 4 cm) in most infants and about 2 inches (5 cm) in most children.
If CPR is done incorrectly, resuscitation has a much lesser chance of success. Similarly, at least one adult study has suggested some harm with chest compressions deeper than 2.4 inches (6 cm). This has resulted in a change in the adult basic life support (BLS) recommendations to include an upper limit for chest compression depth. The most current 2015 guideline recommendation is to compress at a depth of 2-2.4 inches deep.
Medical simulation mannequins, models or related artifacts are widely used in medical education. These are sometimes also referred to as virtual patients. The term “manikin” can refer exclusively to these types of models, however the spelling “mannequin” is also often used. In medical training, mannequins may be commonly used to demonstrate methods of giving first aid such as CPR. Fire and coastguard services use mannequins to practice life-saving procedures. The mannequins have similar weight distribution to a human and allow the trainee to benefit by simulating a more lifelike experience.
FIG. 1 is a prior art diagram of a single use mannequin 100 that includes a mannequin head 101 that is held in position using a box 103. A plastic bag is positioned through the head and within the box 103 and works by allowing a visible chest rise and fall on the mannequin when air blown in the mannequin's mouth 107 during CPR training.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.